With Queensland’s largest export being coal, the Government’s planned emissions trading scheme is a direct hit to the State’s bottom line. The ramifications of the emissions trading scheme will be felt by the people of Queensland more than any other State. Not quite what we expected from a Queensland Prime Minister.

This Government tax grab in the form of a “Carbon Pollution Reduction” plan will be a price mechanism to reduce the competitiveness of the coal and aluminium industries, followed by the agricultural industry in the not too distant future. In the interim, the mountainous State Labor debt will continue to grow. Queensland will be facing a debt of AU$65 billion, when you consider the addition of an emissions trading scheme. Such a burden carries major ramifications for the State, from overlooked infrastructure to the collapse of public private partnerships. When all is said and done, we will be able to say with confidence that the Labor Party has been the author of a complete economic fiasco for our State.

Mr Rudd’s catchphrase of “I’m from Queensland, I’m here to help” has proved prophetic for the people of Queensland. His belligerent persistence to chase an emissions trading scheme will be factored into the decisions of the international participants in our economy and the domestic aspirations of everybody from the commercial hub in Brisbane to the industrial hub of Townsville, to the export hub of Gladstone and flowing through to the domestic tourism industry in Cairns. The economic development inspired by mining will be something for the history books.

The people of Queensland will be happy to know that in his earnest self-righteous endorsement of Queensland’s path to perdition, Mr Rudd’s epistle was based on economic conditions that are so far from the reality of where we are now, his oversight is nothing short of overwhelming. Being the largest exporter of seaborne coal in the world, Queensland has more than 30 billion tonnes of identified resources of black coal in situ. In addition, the Sunshine State is one of the largest beef producers by region in the world and is one of the fastest growing value adders of bauxite in aluminium production. Responsible for such a notable contribution to the Nation, Queensland has a great deal to lose at the hands of this imprudent plan. We have a whole new theory of economic decoupling, only this time we will see a separation between Queensland and prosperity.

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